Father of man accused of shooting at Cumberland County deputy 'shocked'

FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina (WTVD) -- The father of the man accused of shooting at a Cumberland County Sheriff's deputy is speaking only to ABC11. David Bain is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy and resisting arrest.

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His father, Randy Bain, told ABC11 his family was in utter disbelief.

Last Thursday, deputies say David Bain was driving, and his friend James Gibbons was along for the ride when the two allegedly shot at deputy Joey Cashwell as he was mowing his lawn, sparking an intense multi-agency manhunt across county lines.

RELATED: Suspect who shot at Cumberland County deputy turns himself in

It was at that moment when Bain's father said he began pleading with his son to turn himself in out of fear he'd be shot and killed.

Bain was released from prison in the summer of 2016 after serving 14 years for a second-degree-murder conviction. Despite his son's violent past as a convicted killer, Bain's father told ABC11 that David was learning to adjust after prison and would never shoot a cop or jeopardize his newly earned freedom.

In this case, he said he believes his son got mixed up with the wrong crowd.

"It's very shocking, it's the last thing I would expect to happen. It made it sound like he's out looking for cops to shoot and that's not true," Randy Bain said. "He's never had any trouble with any policemen that I knew of. Just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Meanwhile, Sheriff Ennis Wright also appeared in court today. He doesn't believe Bain and Gibbons targeted the deputy, rather they were scaring people for "fun and games."

Either way, Wright says Bain should have known better considering that he was just released for a violent offense.

"We have a system that he went in and stayed for 15 years and he comes back out and does that. He takes life as not being valuable," Wright said.

Bain's bond was increased to $2.5 million. Both he and Gibbons are being held at the Cumberland County Detention Center. Both are due back in court in August.